Clackmannanshire Council Online

Kinship Care

Kinship Care

Kinship care is when a child who cannot remain with their birth parents is looked after by their extended family or close friends.

Our aim

Our aim is to always try to support a child to be cared for within their immediate family and community, if possible. This could be either

• a private care arrangement
  • when a family independently arranges (without local authority involvement) for a child to be looked after by relatives or friends.
• kinship care
  • when the local authority arrange for a child to be placed with extended family members or someone who has a pre-existing relationship, such as relatives or a family friend.

Eligibility criteria

There are two categories of child who fall within the definition of an 'eligible child'. An eligible child is where the child was previously looked after or where the child is assessed by the Local Authority as at risk of becoming looked after. Where the child is determined as being 'eligible' then the local authority will ensure that the carer receives kinship carer allowance. 

Responsibilities

Clackmannanshire Council is responsible for ensuring that children are cared for safely. We assess and review potential carers and their home as part of that process.

A social worker will be appointed to see the child regularly and to get their views about their care and their future plans.

The social worker also supports the carer to provide the highest quality of care that they are able to. This may involve helping to arrange financial and/or practical support, advice and guidance.

The social worker will make sure that the child's needs are met and that a plan is developed to enable this. This might involve

• arranging contact between children and their parent(s) and siblings,
• progressing any legal matters,
• working with other agencies such as health and education,
• working in partnership with the carer to secure the best outcomes for the child.

Responsibility of a kinship carer

Providing kinship care requires the carer to have the same key responsibility as any parent, specifically to provide a safe and stable home environment which meets the child's individual needs.

This means ensuring the child attends nursery or school and receives appropriate medical and dental treatment. When a child is living with you, and you are a kinship carer, any other responsibilities will be listed in the child's individual care plan.

How to become a kinship carer

The first step is to get in touch with Children’s Services. They can talk to you about your circumstances and give you advice based on what is right for you.

You can contact us on 01259 225000.

Assessment

Before placing a child with an extended family member or close friend, we will assess whether this arrangement is suitable and meets the needs of the child.

This assessment would involve

• visiting the home to interview the proposed carer and to ensure the home is suitable for the child's needs,
• undertaking Disclosure Scotland checks on every adult in the caring household,
• completing checks of the social care database and the health records of all potential carers,
• a financial assessment to ensure the family are receiving all child related entitlements.

Placements are reviewed regularly to make sure they continue to meet the child's needs.

Kinship allowance

Kinship carers are entitled to a kinship care allowance if

• the child or children have been placed with carers by the local authority,
• police checks, health checks and disclosure do not show any reason why the placement may not be suitable,
• an assessment has confirmed that the placement is suitable and that carers are entitled to financial support to look after the child.

Weekly allowance

In August 2023 the Scottish Government and COSLA agreed the Scottish Recommended Allowance (SRA) for foster and kinship carers. This ensures eligible kinship and foster carers across Scotland are entitled to the same levels of financial support.

Kinship carers may be eligible for allowances at a weekly rate which depends on the age of the child:

• 0-4 years: £168.31
• 5-10 years: £195.81
• 11-15 years: £200.10
• 16 years and over: £268.41

Support for carers

Kinship Carers will receive periodic visits from our dedicated family support staff, who will offer individualised support and assistance they might require.

Visits will take place independently or jointly with the allocated Social Worker depending on what is deemed most appropriate and beneficial.

Clackmannanshire Council offers support information and advice to kinship carer’s so they are better equipped to meet the needs of the children and young people in their care. 

• Kinship Support Group meets last Friday of each month, term time only at Alloa Family Centre, 10am–12noon 
  • For more information, please contact Early Help Team 01259 225000. 

A wide range of online supports for carers can also be found using the links below:

• Kinship Care Advice Service for Scotland
  • You can also call the confidential helpline on 0808 800 0006​
• Citizens Advice Scotland
  • Advice on kinship care and access to additional specialist advice for complex cases​
• Who Cares Scotland
• NHS Scotland online parenting resources 
  • Access code TARTAN (Solihull Parenting Strategy)

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Legislation

'Looked after' for children in kinship means that a child is cared for under one of the following acts: 

The Children’s Hearing (Scotland) Act 2011 (CH(S)A 2011) 

• (s83) and (s86) where a Children’s Hearing makes a compulsory or interim supervision order and names the place of residence as their kinship carers. 
• (s39) and (s47) where a Child Protection Order has been granted and the child has been placed with kinship carers. 

The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (C(S)A 1995) 

• (s25) where the local authority has made the decision to accommodate the child and the child has been placed with kinship carers. 

Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (AC(S)A 2007) 

• (s80) where the local authority has been granted a Permanence Order in respect of a child and the child has been placed with kinship carers. Children who are looked after by kinship carers have the same status as any looked after and accommodated child and engagement with them is governed by the duties under (s17) C(S)A 1995 as amended by (s13) Children Scotland Act (2020) (C(S)A 2020) and includes duties to: 
  • safeguard and promote a child’s welfare and this being their paramount concern. 
  • make reasonable use of services which would be available if the child were cared for by their parents. 
  • provide advice and assistance with a view to preparing a child for when they are no longer looked after by a local authority. 
  • ascertain the views of the child, taking account of their age, maturity, religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background when making plans and decisions involving the child. 
  • take account of the views of any other person where the local authority considers them to be relevant. 
  • promote on a regular basis, personal relations, and direct contact between ‘siblings’ as appear to them to be appropriate. 
  • ascertain views of siblings or any other person lived with in the character of a sibling relationship. 

The 2009 Regulations defines a kinship carer as: 

• a person who is related to the child. 
• a person who is known to the child and with whom the child has a pre-existing relationship. 

This means there is a duty to consider family members and friends where they have a pre-existing relationship with the child. A kinship carer may be related to a child through blood, half blood, marriage, or civil partnership. 

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